Related coverage

It’s not easy selecting teams. I’ve been doing it for a very long time and I can tell you it’s one of the things that I don’t have to do in 2013 that I am very pleased about.

Let me say that a little differently.

Picking a team is actually easy, but picking a team that you believe is THE best for this week’s match is much tougher.

Picking the best team for this week but also being aware of next week’s and next year’s best interest of the player team and club often becomes very very difficult.

Explaining to all who feel they deserve to know why and how you arrived at that decision is in a whole new ball park and it’s not just a matter of being honest about it that causes the heartache.

Listening to the rotation cricket debate in recent times has created some smiles for this relaxed coach.

Responses from those with vested interests or rose coloured glasses about the good old days go along party lines with those in footy, I reckon.

Whilst we all have our preferences on what we look for in a player in our sport, it never ceases to amaze me that even great minds on the games we love struggle to move with the new demands of it as it inevitably becomes more professional and competitive.

Still they know more than the coaches or selectors, in cricket’s case.

Without being in the dressing rooms, without being at all the training and practice sessions, and without meeting and discussing in depth with doctors, physios and coaching staff. And, most notably, without the input of the players themselves.

Out goes the need for knowledge from the medical crew of the niggle that’s become just a little worse, meaning your gun youngster can’t train at all this week but might be right by game day.

“That’s ok, just play him, toughen him up. Oh, so if he plays on with this type of injury, he could miss six to eight weeks, or at worst, it could limit his ability to be able to develop his full strength or speed potential because of permanent restriction. You just stuffed up the career potential of our most promising player”!

Or what about the need that the coaches and players have decided is vital for rapid form improvement.

Number one priority is building combinations at training and player X can’t train for the week but his understudy can.

It’s not about who is the best player, it’s about building what the team feels is the most necessary to win this game and get the season on track.

If that player X is Cameron Smith, it may well be a different selection come game time.

But again, these are calls from those with the most information, not fans or former greats who played with a broken leg in 1969 but don’t understand the demands of today’s game.

The heat caused from rotation policy is just a little trickier.

If rotation means that player X has played and trained consecutive days, weeks, or months, but does not have an injury, then this is where more guess work – or as we coaches like to call it, gut feel – cuts in.

The scientists will provide numbers about volumes and intensity and total loads which may clarify or confuse. In the end for the coach, it becomes a matter of “is player X with that extra load likely to perform better this week than a fresher player Y”.

This is a minefield at times, with no correct answer until what I used to call “quarter to five decisions” when footy was played with a 3 o’clock kick off.

You guessed it: the decisions were a lot easier at a quarter to five when it’s all over.

Sometimes a coach or selector just has a gut feel that even he can’t verbalise with accuracy at the time. That’s when you just have to be strong, make the call and live with it.

Otherwise you join those quarter to five experts outside the coaches box who think they all have the answers.

Brian Smith joins The Roar as a regular NRL columnist in 2013. This is his first column for the site. Smithy is a former player with St. George and South Sydney and first grade coach at Illawarra, St. George Dragons, Bradford Bulls, Parramatta, the Knights and the Sydney Roosters. He is currently an assistant coach to Jake White at the Brumbies.

Brian Smith

Brian Smith is a former player with St. George and South Sydney and first grade coach at Illawarra, St. George Dragons, Bradford Bulls, Parramatta, the Knights and the Roosters. He has taken teams to the NRL Grand Final on four occasions. He is a weekly columnist on The Roar, but to read more of his writing on rugby league, check out his website, Smithy Speaks.

Want to work for The Roar? We're on the hunt for talented and enthusiastic Roarers to join our video team for the summer (and beyond!). If you think you have what it takes to produce videos for The Roar, get in touch.

The Crowd Says (27) | Page 1 of Comments

One big problem now with selecting, is information overload and a lack of transparency.

In this new age of so many assistant specialist coaches, sports medicine staff, selectors, big funding sponsors, private owners with big dollars demanding success, demanding fans , it must be hard for a 1st grad coach in any sport ,to get any authority, autonomy, centralisation, and the power to have the final say and get the team he wants.

-So many vested to be managed, just who actually gets the final say in team selection,, is a never ending minefield initself, as the portfolio of chiefs if you like has increased, and not enough soldiers. More power to the head coach i say if i managed a team or owned a sport team, let the head coach live and die by the sword, and take full responsibility. Then give them full responsibility.

I have always wanted the coach to be the head of the selection panel too. And just have a few selection advisors that’s it.

Alex Ferguson seems to get the team he wants, Guss Hiddink was given a lot of authority to pick the team exactly who he wanted.

And that’s the type of culture if i was a coach or an administrator i would want to be part of that team. Where the head coach gets final say, and doesn’t have to many advisors. Maybe 3 max from all sections with vested interests in the team.

And the owners , who have any common sense will stay out of football and technical matters, and let the head coach make those decisions.

Well you only have to look at the Blues Origin selections over the years to realise how important this can be, and how terribly wrong or pair-shaped it can all go. And like backsides, evenyone has a opinion of what players should be picked.
Nice to see you at peace now Smithy, but dont go to far, Carty might be on holidays by xmas.

Brian didnt give us a single example from his coaching history. He spoke in general terms. Its like writing a job application and saying youve got great skills in field Y and failing to list examples that prove it.

I did a year of coaching when I was out for season with a snapped ACL & I can tell you for the first 5 or so games I thought coaching & selecting a team was easy. However, when some player injuries & a few consecutive losses occurred that was when the doubts started lol.

Im prob one of those old school people i guess. I think certain aspects are over analized. I believe you have your best team picked at the start of the year after pre season training and trials. You dont weeken one position to strengthen another at any time. The only time you make changes is when players are injured or out of form. I dont believe in horses for courses when it comes to the footy field as your trying to build a TEAM. Team work will defeat individual brilliance over 80 minutes. Whilst im not a fan of either team i dont think Bennet or Bellamy or Hasler changed thier line up all last season unless someone wasnt available and they are considered the best coaches. KIS as they saying goes

> i dont think Bennet or Bellamy or Hasler changed thier line up all last season unless someone wasnt available ..
You dont recall Bellamy ever resting players at the back end of a season leading into finals when the storm had the minor premiership and/or their finals positions all sewn up? I do!!

Selecting teams is a lot easier when the club is overflowing with internationals and Origin players as has been the case with premiership winning teams the Broncos and Storm have had. Decisions are a lot easier when the coach has more superstars at his disposal than his rivals.

Im not really bashing others. Im not using overly emotive language, Im just calling a spade a spade. I even said ‘sorry to be an a-hole’. But I will call out boring threads. Gary Freeman and Nathan Brown have both posted very very unremarkable pieces on The Roar which are safe, state the obvious and dont ruffle any feathers.

The day I see an NRL identity post a legitimate criticism citing evidence on The Roar is the day that I will eat my hat :^)